Justine Cohen and Michael Ponte - “Weathering the Storm”
Justine Wiltshire Cohen and Michael Ponte, owner and manager at Down Under Yoga School of Yoga in Boston, talk with J about what how things have been going since Justine was last on the show three years ago and what they are doing to meat the challenge of the pandemic crisis. They discuss Down Under’s transition to making their teachers employees, responding to the needs of teachers and staff, important keys to their success, efforts they are making to survive the shut down, and the core principles that are guiding their choices.
Virtual Yoga Comes of Age During the Pandemic
More people are turning to the practice of yoga via the internet as state and local officials stress social distancing, close parking lots to beaches, shut down sports in parks and shutter indoor places to exercise.
Justine Wiltshire Cohen, director of Down Under School of Yoga with locations in Brookline, Cambridge, and Newton, teaches seven different styles of yoga at her school, where students learn to connect movement to breath, leaving them physically strong, but mentally quiet.
Boston Fitness Studios Find Deeper Connection with Community Online
Down Under School of Yoga is offering over 20 live-streamed classes a day at a variety of times throughout the day and evening, with one location near campus in Brookline.
How to Stay Active When Working From Home
Join an online yoga class: “The yoga studios I go to for classes are all closed, so I have shifted to online classes. One site with pre-recorded free yoga classes that I’ve been loving is Down Under Yoga. I plan to do the classes out on the deck when we have a warm day!” —Cindy J., executive search and HR consultant, Boston, MA
Boston-themed streams to watch and listen to while staying home
Down Under School of Yoga has a library of free audio classes as well as live-streaming of its full schedule of classes via Zoom.
These Boston Fitness Studios Are Streaming Virtual Workout Classes
For members of Down Under Yoga and newbies alike, visit the Boston-area yoga studio’s “Down Under @ Home” page. If you have passes already, you can use them for the online offerings. There are also packages you can purchase ranging from $18 for one class and $80 for its monthly “Yogi Pass.”
Who's Responsible: Student or Teacher? with Bec Conant
In this episode of Yoga | Birth | Babies, host Deb Flashenberg speaks with longtime colleague and Director of Down Under’s Prenatal & Children’s School Bec Conant. In their lively and a bit geeky conversation, Deb and Bec both draw from personal and professional experience about finding the balance between offering the student autonomy of their body and when to support the student with appropriate pose alternatives. They also both talk about the difficulty of not being ego driven in one’s practice.
Down Under Unites: Kickstart Your April with Down Under Yoga’s Weekend-Long Yoga Festival
A new month is a clean slate to kickstart healthy habits, scope out new hobbies, and dive into the next 30-something days on a high note. What better way to spend your first April weekend than partaking in a two-day, all-access yoga festival?
Down Under School of Yoga, the no-frills and community-oriented multi-location yoga studio, is bringing back their annual Down Under Unites Yoga Festival for its third year. Hosted at their Cambridge studio, the weekend-long event will take place April 6-7, and include a variety of workshops and classes. For $30, you’ll receive a wristband granting you unlimited access to the weekend’s festivities.
The Ultimate Guide to Yoga Studios in Boston
Down Under School of Yoga forgoes the frills of designer apparel and Instagrammable poses for a practice rooted in the traditions of the discipline. Dedicated to fostering community and educating both newcomers and patron yogis, this old-school studio promises to deliver quality yoga training in a down-to-earth environment.
Q&A: How Do I Get My Feet Off the Ground in Crane?
Bakasana, more accurately translated as Crane Pose, is the most important of all arm balances, since understanding how to do Bakasana lays the foundation for most arm balances. Arm balances are complex, and they reveal how the flexibility and strength that carry newcomers through many poses cannot replace skills mature yoga practitioners develop over years of practice.
How a Sattvic (Pure) Diet Brings You Into Balance
Learn how to find balance and cultivate sattva with these healthy Ayurvedic recipes. In Ayurveda, eating a sattvic diet is a way to promote, and keep, sattva—a clear head space of truth, contentment, and stability.
Barbara Benagh - "Boston Legend, Slow Flow Master"
Barbara Benagh, legendary indy yoga teacher, joins J to trace the history and evolution of yoga from the 70’s until the present day. They discuss her early adoption of Iyengar yoga, her progression into a more somatic approach, the teachers and influences that have inspired her along the way, her relationship to and feeling about the ascendance of yoga as big business and the celebrity of yoga teachers, and how she ended up going against the grain and setting a precedence of cultivating her own sensibilities and charting her own course.
Sequencing 101: The Breath Pattern that Lays the Foundation for Smarter Sequencing
A well-sequenced asana class leaves you feeling grounded, calm, and more able to truly drop into Savasana (Corpse Pose). You might think that sequencing magic starts with your warm-up poses; but it really starts with your breath…
The Future of Yoga: 41 Teachers, Only 1 Way to Go
Just because one is on a yoga mat does not mean one is actually practicing yoga. In an increasingly frantic world, my hope for the future is that as a community we nurture ways of practicing that remind us of our calmer selves.
Sequencing 101: 4 Asana Sequencing Faux Pas That Leave You Feeling Blah
Learning the principles, or building blocks, of good sequencing, either as a teacher or for your own home practice, will give you the creative freedom to modify or tailor your practice and classes based on what you or your students need more or less of in order to make progress.
Yoga and Mental Health: Answering the phone call from your body
This morning I sat on Justine Cohen’s bright yellow Victorian couch, my shoes off and laptop in hand. She’s the founder of Down Under School of Yoga in Boston and as she sits in front of me, I’m thinking we are worlds apart. She’s a former lawyer, owner of one of the most popular yoga studios in the city, and her parents taught English to monks in Tibet. But when she begins to speak about her experience with panic attacks, we are instantly connected.
Down Under Yoga: Many Traditions, One Essential Practice
Studio director Justine Wiltshire Cohen is equally passionate about giving Down Under students a well-rounded, authentic yoga education. “We wanted to bring together some of America’s best yoga teachers to ensure not only different generations of students, but different traditions and generations of teachers,” she says. “After I teach my class, I get on the mat and learn from the teachers who trained me. It also means that students who know how to ‘flow’ but who know nothing about alignment, anatomy, stillness or breath have the opportunity to deepen their practice.”